Trolley Troubles
About Trolley Troubles
Oswald loads his trolley with bunny children and other animals. A cow blocks the tracks until he drives underneath her. A goat, baited with a stick, shoves the car up a steep hill. The trolley then runs wild, throws riders, and crashes into a river. Oswald kisses his detached foot for luck and rows the wreck downstream with a stick.
Cast & crew
More about Trolley Troubles
Walt Disney directed and wrote this black-and-white cartoon for Charles Mintz and George Winkler. Universal Pictures released it on September 5, 1927. Wikipedia times it at 6 minutes 16 seconds. Animators credited on that page are Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman, Les Clark, Friz Freleng, Ben Clopton, Norm Blackburn, and Rollin Hamilton. Wikidata names Screen Gems as the company. The Wikipedia infobox says Winkler Pictures. Poor Papa was the first Oswald cartoon finished, but Universal rejected it as too old and too fat, so this second film was the first released.
Themes
Background
In 1927 Disney was still a contractor, making Oswald for Winkler Pictures and Universal Pictures.
In film history
This is the first released Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon. Oswald stayed Universal's lead cartoon star for a decade.
Making
Universal had wanted a Chaplin-like rabbit. Disney changed the character after Poor Papa failed the studio's review, and shipped this trolley picture instead.
Audiences
Wikipedia says the press liked the new series, Oswald became popular, and a fresh cartoon went out every two weeks.
Music
Silent on the 1927 release. The November 23, 1931 Lantz reissue added music and sound effects.
Preservation
The copyright expired in 1955. A restored version was issued on Disney+ on September 7, 2023.
Notes
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was designed by Disney and Ub Iwerks for Winkler Pictures.
- Wikipedia's production section discusses the 1920 short The Toonerville Trolley, taken from the Fontaine Fox strip.
- Walter Lantz reissued the short on November 23, 1931, with music and sound effects, after he took over Oswald.
- Universal let the copyright lapse in 1955.
- Disney bought Oswald and the Disney-era films back in 2006.
Scenes
- Oswald drives the trolley under a cow that will not move.
- He baits a goat into pushing the car up the hill.
- The wrecked trolley is rowed down the river like a raft.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Trolley Troubles (1927).webm)
- Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (December 11, 2007)
- Disney+ (restored version, September 7, 2023)
